Parentshop Blog
Expert insights and practical advice on parenting, child behaviour management, and professional development in education.

Surviving lockdown - helping your child talk about anxiety and returning to school
Lockdowns in Melbourne, Sydney and some regional areas are coming to an end - representing a return to school for many thousands of children. Returnin...

Five tips for parents to consider when purchasing a child’s first smartphone.
By Michael Hawton, MAPS & Jill Sweatman NIIRA

Taming fears – a parent’s guide to helping kids overcome anxious feelings.
Watching a child react to a specific and persistent fear can be distressing for parents. Sometimes, a parent feels so distressed by their child’s res...

Three reasons why the significant adults in a child’s life won’t intervene in a child’s anxiety.
There is research to show that where significant adults in a child’s life can learn how to respond to a child’s anxiety, this type of intervention can...

Helping your child talk about anxiety – the descriptive toolbox
Finding the right words to describe your feelings in any given situation can be a challenge, even for adults. It can be even more difficult for a chil...

Curious parenting: a way to reduce child anxiety
What if we could break our child’s anxious thinking patterns by asking a few consistent but curious questions? What if we could help our children to ...

Being the coach – Tips for setting yourself aside to help your child in distressing situations
Being a parent is incredibly rewarding, but let’s face facts, sometimes it can be really hard. Our heartstrings are often torn when we see our child ...

Book Review - You’re Not Listening by Kate Murphy
I have been in the business of listening for over 30 years. In various career moves, I’ve had to listen being a teacher, a counsellor, and a report in...

Back to school after holidays - dealing with anxiety and school refusal.
Many parents would be familiar with the morning struggle of getting a reluctant child back to school. The teeth gnashing, the tantrums, the threats. ...